BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1832

By: Kacal

Corrections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

State agencies in Texas are struggling with employee staffing and retention. This is especially true for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). C.S.H.B. 1832 seeks to address this issue and provide a route for TDCJ employees to receive additional compensation by authorizing TDCJ to adopt a policy allowing employees to opt to receive a lump-sum payment for up to 40 hours of accrued vacation time once per year.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1832 amends the Government Code to authorize the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to adopt a policy allowing for a TDCJ employee to elect one time during a given fiscal year to receive a lump-sum payment for their accumulated vacation leave in lieu of taking the leave. The bill caps the number of hours of accumulated vacation leave for which an employee may be paid under the policy at the lesser of all of the employee's accumulated vacation leave or 40 hours of accumulated vacation leave. The bill requires TDCJ to do the following when paying an employee for the employee's accumulated vacation leave:

· compute the amount of the payment by multiplying the employee's hourly rate of compensation on the date the employee notifies TDCJ of the election by the number of hours of accumulated vacation leave for which the employee elects to be paid; and

· on making the payment, deduct the number of hours for which the employee received payment from the employee's accumulated vacation leave balance.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1832 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The introduced authorized an employee of TDCJ to elect to receive a lump-sum payment for the employee's accumulated vacation leave, whereas the substitute authorizes TDCJ to adopt a policy to allow for an employee to make such an election.